Beer losing its fizzle in Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans are losing their taste for beer, according to the German brewery association.

Per-capita consumption of beer in Germany, once the world's largest consumer of the drink, fell by 3.5 liters in 2007 to 112.5 liters -- the eighth decline in the last nine years.

Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn told Die Welt newspaper on Monday demographics were partly to blame for the fall from a peak of 156 liters in the 1980s.

But Germans are also drinking more non-alcoholic beverages, industry figures show.

Only once in the last nine years did beer consumption in Germany rise -- in 2006 when it hosted the World Cup. It has long since fallen behind the Czech Republic and Ireland."